Blake Moore: “the majority leader is leaving this Congress at the end of this term, and he might have a career as a comedian, but this…”

“the majority leader is leaving this Congress at the end of this term, and he might have a career as a comedian, but this is a very, very serious matter. Tonight, we are talking, Mr. Speaker, about raising the debt limit of this country. We are, at present, approximately $5.9 trillion in debt. Certainly nobody in this body wants to see the United States of America default on its financial obligations. That will not happen. That is not an option. But the majority leader has not provided all the information from the Concord Coalition, because I want to quote from their letter. ``An increase of roughly $250 billion would be sufficient for now without providing a blank check.'' And yet they are asking, the majority leader is asking for $450 billion. We are offering $150 billion, and I think that is sufficient. If we spend further, we are into Social Security and Medicare, and the people of America need to understand that, Mr. Speaker. That is wrong. We can come together and come up with a plan to meet the obligations of this country without invading Social Security and Medicare.”